Other views: Don't forget anti-gun drive

The raw grief in Newtown, Conn., over its elementary school massacre is not one month old, yet there is talk from top Washington Republican circles the nation's pressing fiscal problems might crowd out comprehensive anti-gun-violence measures for now.

Well, Congress should be able to walk, chew gum and find the elusive safety latch on America's frightening arsenal of guns.

In the wake of the slaying of 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School — and the haunting recounting of the Colorado theater shooting during court testimony this week — the need for broad-based steps to stem gun violence should remain high atop the national agenda.

Indeed, President Barack Obama vows that measures being put together by Vice President Joe Biden and a working group that includes Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and other law enforcement experts "is not something that I will be putting off."

That vow acknowledges the danger the nation too easily could forget the horror of a mass shooting in which 6- and 7-year-olds were, in effect, sacrificed to the National Rifle Association's insistence that high-powered guns are essential to preserving Second Amendment rights.

In addition to second-guessing the likely timing of antiviolence reforms — as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did on a Sunday talk show — some gun-rights advocates are questioning the scope of the federal response to Newtown.

But while a freshman Democratic North Dakota congresswoman over the weekend warned against "extreme" measures, the emerging White House strategy looks to be comprehensive, not radical.

There is little doubt that Congress will be asked to reinstate a ban on assault weapons, as well as take steps to diminish a killer's firepower with curbs on large-capacity ammunition clips. The sale or manufacture of dozens of semiautomatic rifle models and military-style handguns should be outlawed, as they would be under a proposal expected from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

To stop there, though, would be far short of what is needed to address other factors in mass killings that have occurred with horrifying frequency. So it is encouraging to hear the Biden group's proposals could be much broader, particularly in their potential to prevent the mentally ill from gaining access to weapons.

In considering measures such as universal background checks for firearms buyers, a national database to track weapons sales, harsh penalties for carrying guns near schools and arming minors, and stronger mental-health safeguards, Biden's task force appears to be well on track.